Tokyo stocks open higher after Wall St. rebound

TOKYO — Tokyo stocks opened sharply higher on Tuesday after four days of losses, boosted by a rebound on Wall Street and the yen’s fall against the dollar.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 1.92 per cent or 403.32 points to 21,445.41 in early trade while the broader Topix index was up 1.60 per cent or 27.15 points at 1,721.94.

“Buybacks are expected to lead following a sharp rebound in US stocks and a breather in the yen’s strength,” Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.

All three major indices on Wall Street rose on Monday, with investors seemingly persuaded President Donald Trump’s recent threats to launch a trade war were actually a bargaining tactic.

The president on Monday indicated he might consider exempting Canada and Mexico from steel and aluminium import tariffs if he likes the outcome of pending trade talks.

The yen fell with the dollar trading at 106.36 yen on Tuesday against 106.18 yen in New York on Monday afternoon and the 105-yen range in Tokyo earlier.

A lower yen is positive for Japanese exporters as it makes exported goods cheaper and inflates overseas profits when repatriated.

Carmakers were broadly higher. Honda jumped 2.77 per cent to 3,709 yen and Toyota rose 2.05 per cent to 6,954 yen.

Steelmakers also bounced back with Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal rising 2.06 per cent to 2,425.5 yen.

Kobe Steel was up 0.72 per cent at 1,117 yen after media reports said its Chief Executive Hiroya Kawasaki would step down to take responsibility for a quality data-faking scandal.